Tasting Grapes Before Buying

[cobright]

Do you taste a grape before you buy a bag? I don’t. I feel like it’s stealing. But so often I’ll buy a bag and they are so sour. We end up throwing most of them away. ☹ I’m so tempted to start tasting.

My family has adopted a motto on this subject ... from Seinfield (I think)...
Fruit's a gamble, you know it going in.

 

[slo]

Stealing notwithstanding, I don't think I want to sample grapes that haven't been washed and possibly handled by other people.

As my DD17 would say.....Same

 

[Carol_]

I taste with impunity.
When I lived in France, I was told that it was legal and common practice. So now I consider myself French while tasting grapes. Never been arrested.

I’m not alone, but neither are you worry warts: https://thetakeout.com/should-you-taste-grapes-at-the-grocery-store-before-buy-1826088615

 

[mumto3girls]

No, I don't. For some reason, I feel like unwashed grapes are very dirty. I generally try to gently squeeze a few before I buy (I see a lot of others doing this also which is another reason I won't eat one). I like my grapes very crispy and crunchy and I can usually tell if they are going to be with a gentle touch. And if they have a nice blush on them.

This. I gently feel the grapes through the bag to determine if they are “snappy” which is our word for firm grapes.

 

[DisLiss]

I go by how firm they feel because I hate squashy grapes. And I try to buy them only in season, because I run into bitter bags more often if we try buying them too far ahead of season.

I don't personally see any issue in someone sampling a single grape, though. I mean, really, the weight of one grape won't change the price of the bag unless you're only buying 5 grapes. If you were sampling clementines or apples from a bag, that would be a different story.

(I did one time, have an elderly woman who suggested I "just give him one" when I was bagging up cookies from a bin and telling my young son he couldn't have one until they had been weighed. What the heck do you call those vertical bins with the plastic release flap at the bottom, anyway? It was one of those, LOL! Anyway, I was just thrilled that she was trying to tell my preschooler that swiping cookies was totally fine & dandy. Ugh! )

 

[TwoMisfits]

Never.

Like other posters, I feel a grape through the plastic bag (so I don't touch the grape, just the bag). If it's firm, it's good to go, b/c my kids eat firm grapes and only firm grapes, regardless of what they taste like. For them, it's always texture over taste.

Tasting is what you do at farmer's markets or Whole Foods when they specifically have little displays for you to do so. You don't just pick up grocery produce from the sellable bags and start eating it, unless you're buying it no matter what...

 

[Silvermist999]

I’ve seen so many people actually remove grapes from one bag to exchange with another bunch from another bag (after sampling). After seeing this (pre-Covid) I definitely wash my grapes well before eating them at home. We don’t sample any other fruits before buying why would we sample grapes? I do feel them through the plastic bag to make sure they are firm...no mushy grapes for this family

 

[Skywalker]

Why do some people feel there is a special stealing exemption for grapes lol? I don't randomly "taste test" anything else in the grocery store so I will also take my chances with grapes.

 

[leebee]

I taste-test a grape, as I'm not interested in buying sour or flabby grapes. I'll only test from one or two bunches. I also "mix-n-match" grapes so I only buy as many as I need/want. DH is the only fruit eater around here, and grapes are too expensive to waste.

 

[katie01]

Most grapes in the store are covered in a layer of dust/dirt, I don’t want to eat that

 

[ronandannette]

I’ve seen so many people actually remove grapes from one bag to exchange with another bunch from another bag (after sampling). After seeing this (pre-Covid) I definitely wash my grapes well before eating them at home. We don’t sample any other fruits before buying why would we sample grapes? I do feel them through the plastic bag to make sure they are firm...no mushy grapes for this family

When grapes are pre-bagged but priced by the pound rather than the package, I have no qualms about taking a bunch or two out of a large bag and putting them in a produce bag. No cashier has ever blinked an eye and why should I buy more than I need?

 

[Christine]

When grapes are pre-bagged but priced by the pound rather than the package, I have no qualms about taking a bunch or two out of a large bag and putting them in a produce bag. No cashier has ever blinked an eye and why should I buy more than I need?

I had a produce person specifically tell me to do that. All of our grapes here come pre-bagged, but they are sold by the pound. Every bag was really full and she saw me searching each bag for a small bag. She said "you don't need to do that--it's perfectly fine to take a bunch out of one bag and move it to another bag so you can get a smaller amount." So that's what I do. I also do that with the cherries because they come packaged the same way and, man, are they expensive.

 

[Ellie008]

One of my friends is the produce manager at my local grocery store. He actually told me I SHOULD be tasting a grape before I buy them to make sure they are good. So, yeah, I wouldn't feel bad doing it. But, I don't do it. Grapes are so DIRTY! Yuck. I do squeeze them though. If they are not firm I won't buy them.

 

[BrianL]

Here's a relevant classic Simpsons moment:

 

[monsterkitty]

Our Kroeger will clean a few grapes for you so you can taste them. I don't do that, I just buy them because even if they aren't the best grapes DH will eat them. He'll eat anything.

 

[Dan Murphy]

No

 

[Alicefan]

Yep! Got to make sure they are good. We get organic grapes and at $4.00/lb I am not taking a chance they are not good.

Preeeety sure you're my soul sister lol

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

Do you taste a grape before you buy a bag? I don’t. I feel like it’s stealing. But so often I’ll buy a bag and they are so sour. We end up throwing most of them away. ☹ I’m so tempted to start tasting.

Grapes are either sour or more like where I am too soft. So one little grape I do taste at times but I do worry about them being dirty.

 

[bcla]

Most grapes in the store are covered in a layer of dust/dirt, I don’t want to eat that

That's call the "bloom". It's a natural and perfectly safe part of the fruit. It doesn't specially need to be washed off. It has to be scrubbed off mechanically because it won't wash off with just water.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

No, I'd want to wash them first. I know what you mean about getting a bad batch but that can happen with other fruits. Sometimes we get apples in a pre-packaged bag that are just not quite where we'd want them tasting or they have some bruises we couldn't see. It's okay it happens.

You may consider getting your grapes from a local farmers market where you can more closely inspect them or ask/talk with the farmers if you're more concerned about that or you get fruit more often and don't want to feel like you're wasting money all the time if you keep getting bad ones.